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Bible Question: Was
Christ the last prophet to come to earth? What I mean
is . . . are there others who are considered to be able
to communicate with God as Moses and Abraham did?
Bible Answer: Jesus
Christ is alive and is watching us read these words. He
returned to life after His death and is alive in heaven
today. He is many things to us. He is our Creator - our
God! He came to earth 2,000 years ago to become our Savior.
Some day everyone will realize that Jesus is the Lord
of all. Jesus is our Creator, Savior, Lord, King, and
God. He is also the greatest prophet that has ever existed
and He is our faithful and merciful High Priest.
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Who Is Jesus? |
Passage |
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Our
God |
Titus
2:13 |
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Our
Creator |
Col.
1:16 |
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Our
Savior |
Titus
3:6 |
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Our
Lord |
Heb
13:20 |
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Only
Sovereign |
1
Tim. 6:15 |
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King
of Kings |
1
Tim. 6:15 |
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Lord
of lords |
1
Tim. 6:15 |
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Greatest
Prophet
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Heb.
1:1-2 |
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Merciful
and faithful High Priest |
Heb.
2:17 |
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The Ancient Prophets.
A prophet is one who speaks for God. The actual Greek
word means "to tell forth" or an "utterance
on behalf of another." A prophet can give a prediction
about the future if God gives him that kind of message.
The Old Testament prophets
and apostles also spoke for God when they wrote scripture.
Sometimes they did not completely understand what they
were writing.
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As
to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied
of the grace that would come to you made careful
search and inquiry, seeking to know what person
or time the Spirit of Christ within them was
indicating as He predicted the sufferings
of Christ and the glories to follow. (NASB)
1 Peter 1:10-11 |
But there is a difference between the prophets in the
Old Testament and Jesus. The Old Testament prophets were
not Jesus' equal. They wrote about Jesus who is their
God, Savior, and Lord. They predicted His coming. Here
is a short list of the major prophets that God spoke with:
Abraham (Gen. 12:1-2), Moses (Ex. 3:5-6), Samuel (1 Samuel
3:10-11), Nathan (2 Samuel 12:1), Elijah (1 Kings 19:9-10),
Isaiah (Isa. 6:8), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4), and Ezekiel
(Ezekiel 1:3). There are other prophets in the Old Testament
who interacted with God, but these are the major ones.
In the New Testament the apostles should also be considered
prophets, since they spoke out for God.
Modern Prophets.
Prophets also exist today, but there are none in the sense
of being able to predict the future. Some years ago a
Christian man approached a teacher of the Word of Truth
and told him that he was a prophet. He did not mean that
his words had the same authority as God's own words -
the Bible. Nor did he mean that the man was predicting
the future. He was referring to the fact that his preaching
and teaching of the Bible was with power, boldness, and
strong exhortation. The real authority behind any teacher
or preacher is the Holy Spirit, who applies the words
that are spoken or written to the hearts, minds, and emotions
of those who are listening. The responsibility of the
one who 'tells forth" is to accurately communicate
what God has said in the Bible and not invent new meaning.
It is his/her responsibility to accurately explain the
meaning of the Bible. A true prophet is one who accurately
says what God has said. If he fails, he is not a prophet
of God.
Here is what God thinks about one who claims to be a prophet
and yet does not speak the truth.
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And
the LORD said . . . “The prophets prophesy
lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded
them, nor spoken to them . . . (NASB) Jeremiah
14:14
Your
prophets have seen for you False and deceptive
visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity
. . . (NASB) Lamentations 2:14 |
New Revelation. The Old
Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles were
endorsed by Jesus as those who had spoken and would speak
for God (Luke 11:49; Ephesians 2:20). Jesus did not recognize
anyone else. Since the apostle John, the last apostle,
who wrote the last book in the Bible - Revelation, there
is no one else who can add to the words of the Bible.
Jesus
did not recognize anyone else. The Bible is complete.
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I
testify to everyone who hears the words of
the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds
to them, God shall add to him the plagues
which are written in this book; and if anyone
takes away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part from
the tree of life and from the holy city, which
are written in this book. (NASB) Revelation
22:18-19 |
Conclusion:The
apostle John was a prophet too! But Jesus is the greatest
prophet of all time since He was God Himself. He spoke
for Himself! |
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